Hypothetically, is it perfectly legal to purchase high capacity rebuild kits out of state, import them as rebuild kits into CA, and build your own 10/30's in CA, even if you do not own any pre-ban high cap magazines? Can anyone point me towards a legal authority that can verify this as well? Thanks in advance.

kf6tac

01-06-2010, 1:52 AM

I think there's a letter floating around out there from the CA DOJ that stated that this was okay. I'm sure someone who has the link to it will link it shortly. Sorry that I don't have it.

wildhawker

01-06-2010, 2:04 AM

It's linked at the CGF Wiki.

lorax3

01-06-2010, 2:36 AM

This is the letter (http://www.hoffmang.com/firearms/DOJ-large-cap-magazines-2005-11-10.pdf) you are referring to and it is indeed linked to on the respective CGF Wiki Page (http://wiki.calgunsfoundation.org/index.php/Large-capacity_magazine_restrictions) (Somewhere to check in the future)

Stargazer

01-06-2010, 5:49 AM

I just read the letter, and it seems to me the basic scenario the questions are about is "repairing a legally obtained hi cap magazine." Nowhere does the letter talk about making a 10 round mag out of hi cap mag parts. Did I read it wrong?

Mac Attack

01-06-2010, 7:53 AM

I have often wondered about this myself. How could the prove that you did not own then prior to the ban? I can see if the mags were dated or from a manufacturer who was not making them before the ban, but what if a person purchased undated, older mag rebuilds?

cdtx2001

01-06-2010, 8:49 AM

I just read the letter, and it seems to me the basic scenario the questions are about is "repairing a legally obtained hi cap magazine." Nowhere does the letter talk about making a 10 round mag out of hi cap mag parts. Did I read it wrong?

You are not about to manufacture a hi-cap mag, so of course the letter is not going to address it.

AFAIK, there is no law that says you can or can't take a pre or post ban mag and make a 10/30 or 10/20 out of it. Just do it, but make sure your modifications are permanent and that you can only fit 10 rnds and no more in.

But seriously, why would you want to ruin a perfectly good 20 or 30 rnd mag anyways? Sure your rifle will look more evil when you put it in, but it also makes for more questions from LEOs and DAs. If you want a 10 round mag, go buy one and put that on and save your 20s and 30s for when you go to NV, OR, or AZ.

kf6tac

01-06-2010, 10:46 AM

I just read the letter, and it seems to me the basic scenario the questions are about is "repairing a legally obtained hi cap magazine." Nowhere does the letter talk about making a 10 round mag out of hi cap mag parts. Did I read it wrong?

No, chalk that one up to my faulty memory - I remembered there was a question in the letter about 10 round mags and hi-cap repair parts, but it turns out it was Question 8, which is the reversed situation -- using 10 round parts to repair a legally obtained hi-cap mag.

Really though, I doubt there'll be much official authority out there saying that it's okay to use legal-to-own parts to build a legal-to-manufacture item.

OleCuss

01-07-2010, 5:39 AM

OK, I think I'm going to sort it out as follows:

If I have 10 of the 30 round magazines and they find that all the magazines are old and worn and I've got repair kits for 5 - a prosecutor is probably going to forget about trying to make a case.

If I have one AR-15 and 2 of the 30 round magazines but I've got all the parts needed to make 50 of the 30 round magazines - the AG thinks the prosecutor might try to haul you into court.

So if I'm not stupid about ordering ridiculous numbers of parts for magazines which already look brand-new - prosecutors are likely to think hauling me into court is a waste of their time?

FWIW.

cmth

01-07-2010, 7:47 AM

There is no constructive possession for full-capacity magazines in California. Unless the parts are assembled by you into a fully functioning, full-capacity magazine, there is no violation of the law.

Sniper3142

01-07-2010, 8:29 AM

There is no constructive possession for full-capacity magazines in California. Unless the parts are assembled by you into a fully functioning, full-capacity magazine, there is no violation of the law.

Exactly.

Parts are Parts. There is NO LIMIT on how many repair/rebuild kits you have.